The Boston Globe Magazine this week had an article about a former priest who is gay and his struggles. To be honest, I didn’t read it. I have too much else to do to bother reading the same tripe I’ve read a thousand times. But a friend who did read it pointed out a very disturbing passage:
- For me, however, it was “no ministry of any kind ever, here in the Archdiocese of Boston or elsewhere.” The formal letter from the cardinal left no ambiguity: “You may not use the title `Father’ or `Reverend.’ You no longer have the privilege of wearing the clerical collar. You may, however, celebrate the Eucharist in the privacy of your own residence.” It has always puzzled me that a church which still teaches that masturbation is “a grave moral evil” encourages even its priests-gone-bad to indulge in the liturgical equivalent: saying Mass alone.
Celebrating Eucharist alone is the liturgical equivalent of masturbation? Where did this guy learn his theology? What then is the celebration of the Eucharist with a congregation? Liturgical group sex? Maybe it’s not a foregone conclusion that a guy with same-sex inclinations is automatically a bad priest, but I’ve yet to encounter an example that convinces me otherwise. I’m glad this guy isn’t pastoring any souls anymore.
